Finally, after 40 days and 40 nights of rain in Dallas, it looks like we are off to the start of Summer. I am a big fan of well-made Sauvignon Blanc wines – especially in the Texas heat on a patio. So, when I got the invitation from Dry Creek Valley Wine Association to taste some Sauvignon Blanc wines from a region during the #DCVSauvBlanc Virtual Tasting, I sent an enthusiastic “yes” as my response.

The live tasting featured winemakers Tim Bell of Dry Creek Vineyard, Emmett Reed of Gustafson Family Vineyards, and Ed Sbragia of Sbragia Family Vineyards. I had the opportunity to meet Tim during a Sonoma wine event in Dallas last year and was impressed by his Sauvignon Blanc then. The other family owned wines were new to me. We tried the following wines:

2013 Dry Creek Vineyard DCV3 Sauvignon Blanc ($25)

2013 Gustafson Estate Sauvignon Blanc ($22)

2014 Sbragia Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($22)

Every one of these wines was delicious. The styles differed based on the elevation, weather and a number of other factors. What remained common was that the Dry Creek region is a place to find stellar Sauvignon Blanc.

When my work life and wine life intersect, I always bask in the glow. I have been incredibly lucky to be accepted into the Executive Women’s Roundtable, an exclusive C-level women’s leadership organization that is run through the Dallas Chamber of Commerce.The women are amazing – it’s a who’s who of women who leave me in awe every time that I am in a room with them.

The Executive Women’s Roundtable Group at JM Cellars

Annually, we have a weekend leadership retreat designed to be a time of learning, city exploration, laughter and networking.This year we headed to Seattle.Yes, the land of Washington Wine, which I fell in love with about five years ago at #wbc10.

Ian and Laura MacNeil

This trip allowed me to explore (briefly) a wine region that I did not have a chance to visit the last time I was there – Woodinville.But first, we needed to explore vodka.Ian MacNeil launched the Glass Distillery in 2012 to introduce his flagship spirit, Glass Vodka, to the public.The shop includes a gorgeous exhibition of glass and on our visit was coupled with a tasting of four types of vodka.Three were flavored, but the pure Glass Vodka was delicious, smooth and all about style.This made a girl that wasn’t necessarily a vodka fan, a vodka fan.

Luly Wang Creation for the Vogel Alcove Gala

After a series of meetings and networking events, (if you want the outfit of the year, check out Luly Yang, one of the most fun designers I’ve seen in a long time), we headed to a morning tour of Pike Place Market.

We had a private tour at the Dale Chihuly Boathouse.It was awesome to see Chihuly’s glass vision come to life from an aquarium to his private pool to the best dining room ever.It was a blast from the past to see what inspired the gorgeous designs that have become the standard of glass couture.

John Bigelow

Then the games begin.I’m never a tour bus winery kind of gal, so I’m going to focus on the two “off the beaten path” wineries that I really enjoyed out of the three we toured.Our first was JM Cellars, which is considered a private arboretum located on a hill named “Bramble Bump.”John Bigelow, the incredibly charismatic and passionate winemaker, who had such an infectious excitement for his wines and the story of his family, made us all fall in love with his story and the property. These guys make 500 cases a year – small and boutique in style. The 2012 Vineyard Estate red and the 2012 Syrah were my favorite wines that I tried.

Brian Cade

Our next stop was Sparkman Cellars where we spent time with Brian Cade, the general manager.I loved the vision, “work with the finest ingredients known to man, craft it from something truly real and share it with people that want to drink it.”Sir, may I have another… I really liked everything that I tried.The fact that the wine club is named after Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” resonated.But sadly, to refrain a sad yet often stated theme, the wines are not yet available in Texas.I hate you three-tier ridiculous legal system.We are all missing out.

Anytime I can combine time with a group of awe inspiring women combined with the amazing city of Seattle paired with a region of wines that I just want to spend time exploring, that means one of the best weekend’s ever.

It’s time for the April and May recap of Maniac Monday, Wine Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday or whenever I could get the work gang together to taste the massive buildup of wine that is happening in my office this Spring.

We tried 15 wines and I’m going to mention 13 of those wines as the highlights – remember these are all price points ranging from $12-$60, so these aren’t apples to apples comparisons:

White:

2013 Arrowood Chardonnay – I got notes of cinnamon baked apples, lemon curd and a nice minerality. This was a very nice representation of chardonnay.

2013 Atalon Sauvignon Blanc – pineapple, grapefruit, peach and lemongrass make this a very quaffable and perfect patio wine.

2013 J Vineyards Chardonnay – this white had a little spice to it with pineapple, lemon, white stone fruit and a nice balance.

2012 La Pitchoune Pinot Noir – this was a party in a glass and one of the highlights of the tasting.I loved the Burgundian style pinot with its notes of fig, red cherry, earth and layers of complexity.

Aloha.I had the opportunity last week to go on a sales incentive trip to Hawaii.I left as the snow and traffic snares piled up in Dallas and landed in paradise.As many of you know, I head marketing for a software company for the paying gig, so it’s fun when my passion for wine and job collide.

Because the sales team worked their collective butts off to get to Maui, this trip needed to be special.I learned early about the sacrifices that spouses/significant others and families make for deals to get done.And wine was going to be a significant part of the experience.

I needed to find the perfect balance of “off the beaten path” wines that would satisfy palates from around the globe at a cost that wasn’t too outlandish, but certainly didn’t taste that way.Here’s what I chose – Iet me know how you think I did….

I learned a few lessons along the way:

Avoid “porn star martinis” at all cost. Trust me.

A 7:00 a.m. excursion will not attract the masses. Three out of 14 actually showed for the ATV trip.

Speaking of ATV tours, do not try to overachieve or you may come dangerously close to tipping the vehicle.

Do not try to out dance a dance troupe, even if you were in one in your younger years.

Every party has a tipping point moment, try to identify that before it happens.

After the opportunity to chat with Peter Mondavi last week, I had the chance to experience the wine of another Mondavi – Michael Mondavi.This was another lesson in heritage as Michael strives to recreate the style of cabernets that the Mondavi family were known for in the late 1960’s and early 70’s.

I was sent a sample of the 2010 Michael Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a 100 percent Cabernet, which is a rarity in itself.This wine truly reflects timelessness and a family heritage.“Animo” means spirit in Italian and Michael Mondavi’s grandfather taught him that all great winemakers respect the soil. It is velvet in texture, a deep purple in the glass and has a rich mouthfeel.It has elements of Old World and New World with lots of earthy, blackberry, plum, minerality, vanilla, cinnamon and caramel.It was stunning and as my colleagues noted, “I think your eyes just rolled back in your head when you tried it.”

We tried several other wines on this #thirstythursday that made the list including the following:

2013 Amici Sauvignon Blanc – this 50/50 blend of Sauvignon Musque and Sauvignon Blanc was full of tropical fruit, citrus, orange blossom and notes of flowers and flint.It was mineral and a great afternoon patio wine.

It’s not often I have the opportunity to sit down with one of the reigning members of one of the undisputable first families of wine in Napa. But I got to do exactly that when Peter Mondavi Jr, co-proprietor of Charles Krug, came to Dallas. By the way, he also happens to be one hell of a nice guy.

Charles Krug is the oldest winery in Napa Valley and was founded in 1861 by Prussian immigrant Charles Krug. Since 1943 and over four generations, the winery has been overseen by the Peter Mondavi Sr family. Estate vineyards are located in St Helena, Yountville, Howell Mountain and Carneros.

Cesare Mondavi first came to Minnesota from Italy in 1906 and became a miner. In 1908, he returned to Italy to marry Rosa Grassi and started a boarding house and saloon. In 1922, as Prohibition hit, the Mondavi’s and their four children moved to California and started C. Mondavi and Sons, which was a grape shipping business.

Cesare didn’t set out to be a winemaker – just an accidental entrepreneur who wanted to take care of his family. After success in the grape shipping business, he decided to purchase the Charles Krug winery. Cesare Mondavi was an innovator and introduced the cider press for winemaking and many other advanced winemaking techniques that were unheard of during that time.

His son, Peter Sr, attended Stanford and pursued graduate studies in enology. He then served in the US Army in World War II and returned home to the winery. Peter has carried on many innovations at Charles Krug including vintage dating varietal wines, cold fermentation of white wines and fermentation in French oak barrels, among others. Peter Sr had two sons, Marc and Peter Jr, who followed in his footsteps, one attending UC Davis and one attending Stanford.

Fast forward a generation. You can tell that both sons have the entrepreneurial spirit and understanding of how technology done well can improve key steps of a business and are very involved in the workings of Charles Krug. Peter Mondavi Sr is still active, and comes to the winery to sign checks at age 100, but has handed the reins to his sons.

Peter Jr told me about how his role at the winery evolved from working for 50 cents a day at age eight where he was assigned the task of unwrapping tasting glasses. After returning to the winery with a BS in mechanical engineering and a MS in engineering management followed by a MBA, he handled everything from the capital expansion of the winery to designing the state-of-the-art temperature control system at the winery.

We tried a number of wines and I loved the pride that Peter had as he described each one, which were all delicious. Here’s my assessment (please note that some of these wines will not be on the market for another few months). I continued to drink them over a three day timeframe and the evolution was amazing:

2014 Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc – full of lots of citrus, grapefruit, peach and minerality. It was the only wine with a twist top and meant to be enjoyed young.

2012 Charles Krug Generations – this wine was designed to celebrate four generations of Mondavi family members. Peter described it as a wine with “one foot in France, one foot in California.” It was balanced with lots of cinnamon, All Spice and berry. He discussed it being one of their cocktail wines that you drink before dinner as it stands alone without needing a food pairing.

2012 Charles Krug Vintage Selection Napa Cabernet Sauvignon – lots of black fruit, mocha and caramel flavors. This is a wine that is roughly not produced three out of five years and it was incredible.

2012 Charles Krug Family Reserve Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon – this was the second vintage of this wine and I loved the cranberry, cassis and big black fruit.

During my conversation with Peter I never lost track of the fact that Charles Krug Winery is about family, sustainability and keeping a tradition strong. The Mondavi’s continue to innovate and invest to bring the Charles Krug brand back to its heritage. The result is a delicious one.

Punta Mita, Mexico.It’s become the home that I can’t afford away from home – at least on a sustained basis.Of course there is always a story behind the story.More than 10 years ago when I worked in a different position, I had to buy trip insurance because inevitably the company that I worked for would force me to cancel my vacations due to a crisis.In their defense, the company was going through a SEC investigation and communication was very important.

One New Year’s Eve, my husband made me resolve that I wouldn’t cancel vacations anymore.A few months later, we found ourselves at the Four Seasons Punta Mita.This was the first time we had gotten away in ages and the first time we left our daughter who may have been 12 weeks old at the time.

We had an amazing trip and after several bottles of wine, we decided we were curious about the Residence Clubs the Four Seasons were building.In the dark, we snuck under the fence, climbed into the unit and saw how amazing it was.My childhood trips involved driving many miles in a station wagon, all of us sleeping in one room at the Radisson Inn and nothing that remotely resembled a Four Seasons experience.Let’s just say that we made the decision to purchase and have not regretted it once.

But, wine is high on my Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and prior to this visit, I found the lack of selection along with the cost to buy imported wine in Mexico to be a hindrance.I take a lot of care in selecting what we will take to dinner or drink watching the sun set.

Usually, I don’t take samples to Mexico, but in this case, I had great relationships with two wineries that I consider special and who happened to send wines that paired well with my happy experience.

The first is Cornerstone Cellars.Managing Partner Craig Camp has been a long-time friend of all wine bloggers and I have been lucky enough to be included on Cornerstone’s media samples list.

We tried five wines from Cornerstone.We began with three Sauvignon Blancs from 2009, 2010 and 2011 made in the Old World style that I love.It was surprising to taste the changes from year to year.This is a winery that highlights the terrior, the climate and the strengths of each vintage.There is no size fits all blueprint for this winery.Each wine tasted represents the spectrum from older to younger and what happens with a well-made wine with a little age.Before I tell you how much I enjoyed each of these, the 2009 and 2010 wines are currently available as library wines, which command a premium price from the $30 2011 offering.I loved each of them – from the complexity of the 2009 with notes of herbs, minerality and lemon peel to the freshness of the 2010 with pear, floral and oak notes.And then there’s the younger 2012 which is also delicious with great minerality, citrus and melon notes.

My next bottle was the 2012 Cornerstone Chardonnay from Oregon.This was a great mix of citrus, creamy textures and the steely notes of an Old World chardonnay.The depth and textures of this wine was like unwrapping a beautiful package and the contents did not disappoint.

The last Cornerstone selection was the 2011 Pinot Noir from Oregon.This was a great representation of Oregon Pinot with black cherry and herbal notes.

For those of you who have followed this blog, you know that I am a lover of sparkling wine and champagne. We started with the J Vineyards Cuvee 20 NV Brut, which was delicious with lots of green apple, creaminess and lots of tropical fruit.It was a perfect wine to sip on the patio while we watched the sun set.

Our final wine was the J Vineyards Brut Rose NV.This is one of my favorite sparkling wines.I love the strawberry and cherries, baked French pastry and a silky texture.

Cornerstone Cellars and J Vineyards thank you for making my vacation experience greater and sharing your wonderful wines with me.

Now that the weather has cooled down in Texas, I’ve been lucky enough to get a number of wine shipments coming my way. Those shipments led us to another #TipsyTuesday with a group of work colleagues.Sometimes you have to kiss many frogs before you find your prince, but this time we had a great line-up of wines from around the world.We tried 15 wines, one was corked and one didn’t make the cut, but the rest were solid wines.

White

In the spirit of full disclosure, these wines were supposed to be part of Natural Chardonnay Day #ChardDay and I ended up having to go out of town for work. I gave notice to the folks coordinating and they were nice enough to tell me to save them for a rainy day.Favorites are below (as mentioned, one of the Chardonnay’s was corked, so I won’t talk about that wine).

2012 Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay – full of tropical notes, vanilla, orange blossom and floral notes. This was a great representation of a chardonnay.

2012 Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay – I also got tropical, but there were some notes of spice to this wine along with honey and vanilla. A totally different chardonnay but also very nice.

The other favorite whites included:

2013 Domaine Begude Sauvignon Blanc – lots of minerality, citrus, lemongrass and grapefruit. This was a great everyday wine.

2013 Carmel Road Unoaked Chardonnay – notes of citrus and pear. This was a very crisp Chardonnay.

2013 Carmel Road Unoaked Riesling – notes of orange blossom, honey, floral and apricot. It was really interesting and I kept coming back to it.

Red

2009 Cune Reserva 2009 Rioja – definitely one of my favorites of the tasting. Big notes of rich berry, spice and great terroir.

2007 Montecilla Gran Reserva Rioja – earthy with notes of smoke, pepper, cedar, raspberry, spice and leather. I thought this opened up nicely over the time of the tasting.

1998 Vina Albina Rioja – this wine was full of dried cherry, spice and vanilla. It was an interesting expression of aged rioja and I enjoyed it.

I always have to call out Cornerstone Cellars wines whenever I am lucky enough to receive them as there is a line out my door whenever they appear and with good reason. We tried the 2012 Cornerstone Cellars Syrah, which was full of leather, coffee and notes of blackberry.You could almost taste the intersection of the fruit of the earth with the skill of the winemaker who brought it all together like a conductor’s crescendo.The second wine was the 2011 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, which continues to ‘hands down’ be one of my favorite Napa Valley Cabernets (just do a Google search of Cornerstone and Dallas Wine Chick and you can follow my love affair with these wines).

Rose

2013 Anna de Joyeuse, Camas, Pinot Noir Rose – Lots of red cherries, raspeberries and a freshness and minerality that I really enjoyed.

Dessert Wine

Cockburn’s Special Reserve Port – this was a treat for the group. It was balanced with red fruits, cherry and had a nice finish at the end.

In July at the #wbc14, I was invited to hang with the cool kids at a special dinner in Solvang to celebrate the Rodney Strong Vineyard Silver Anniversary. Several months later, I was invited to attend the Rodney Strong Silver Anniversary and James Beard Chef’s Tour Dinner celebrating 25 years of the Klein family owning the vineyard.

Top chefs in Austin, Healdsburg, Miami and New York, hosted dinners that we were able to watch live on the #rsv25 channel.There were also nine bloggers who are also fantastic home cooks that hosted mouthwatering dinners in different markets. And then there were a few like me who don’t cook but were lucky enough to have received the wines so I could taste along.All of the dinners benefitted the James Beard Foundation, echoing the family’s continuing commitment to give back to the community.

Owner Tom Klein talked about how his goal was to create world-class wines that captured the essence of Sonoma. In the 25 years under Klein’s ownership and direction, the winery has expanded, the number of wines offered has increased, the practices have became sustainable and the winery was named American Winery of the Year by the Wine Enthusiast in 2013.

From the Pre-Event at #wbc14

I’ve always said Rodney Strong was one of the top wineries that really understood the power of digital and social media. They are front and center in raising the bar, making bloggers feel appreciated and understanding that if they get the right people in the room, they can and will out-trend any other wine event.

We tasted through six wines and there was a sense of fun to the entire evening. The people at the dinners had fun.The people on social media had fun.The bloggers like me who were lucky enough to be included had fun.